Perhaps as many as 70% of U.S. teenagers, as well as many adults, currently use, or have used, dental braces. Traditional braces include brackets affixed to teeth, and archwires configured to extend through slots in the brackets. The archwires are traditionally attached to the brackets via ligatures or o-ties. Each of these elements are also referred to generally as “orthodontic appliances.”
Many individuals wish to customize or decorate their braces. However, customization of these orthodontic appliances is limited to changing the colors, specifically of the ligature or o-tie portions of the appliance. For instance, an individual may want to include ligatures or o-ties matching her/his favorite color, her/his school's colors, and the like. Individuals have no other readily available means by which to modify their orthodontic appliances, absent permanent modification of the appliances.
What is needed is an orthodontic appliance including a surface for displaying shapes, textures, patterns, letters, numbers, symbols, indicia, colors, and the like to enable a user of braces gain the ability to customize them.